It is the last day of mobilization before the second NAAMES expedition is underway. The day started very early as all those preparing to leave land for a month pack up their bags, check out of the hotel, make final quick runs to WalMart to get those last minute items you suddenly realize you cannot go a month without, and finally carrying all your belongings onto the ship to your bunk room. But first, before going to the ship….COFFEE! Each morning of mobilization starts with one of the two coffee shops near the dock, Pie in the Sky or Coffee Obsession. Once our group had our “wake-up” concoction in hand we walked onto the ship already hustling and bustling with scientists making final touches setting up their work stations, tying down absolutely everything (equipment, bottles, incubators, boxes both empty and not). The only things without ropes, bungees, and ratchet straps were the scientists and crew members. The crew were also busy getting the ship ready to handle any weather conditions we may encounter and securing all the instruments. As if the ship was not already in a frenzy getting everything prepared for departure there was a NASA social event consisting of 20 social media fans from NASA who are involved with all sorts of media forums including but not limited to instagram, twitter, snap chat, and facebook. Due to the large fan based NAAMES has accrued, they were split into 3 groups of 7 as they made their way to several tour stations lead by NAAMES scientists who volunteered some of their time to explain measurements we are taking, covering all the bases: how, why, and when. General life on board was also covered. Things like where we eat, sleep and shower under all types of weather conditions and what we do in our “downtime”, something that is actually quite rare and for which most people use to catch up on lost hours of sleep. The social media fans arrived at 1000 and finished up around 1400. By then everyone was exhausted and feeling good about leaving early the next day.
Peter Gaube talking to NASA social guests about on deck operations, Photo:Kristina Mojica
RV Atlantis at sunset, Photo:Nick Huynh
Written by Nerissa Fisher
Brian and Ruthie here!
Natalie and Willem packed up their bags and flew the coop over the weekend. It was sad to see them go, but we’ve been here until we could find the rest of our space robins. And now we are proud to introduce our final eight space robins!
Robins in the rain
Even though it’s late April and probably feels a lot like spring wherever you are, we woke up to cold wintry mornings the past few days. You might think that rain would dampen our spirits, but we were excited to open our nets because we were hoping the robins wouldn’t want to travel in the rain and wind. Birds can stay warm even in a cold rain because their feathers keep the water off their skin.
As it turns out, a flock settled on our lawn to look for worms! And that’s how we met Birdie Sanders, Twitter, and Skyler. After they were suited up, they flew right back to join their friends!
Skyler is an adult male. His name was chosen by Mr. Lane’s 5th grade class. (photo credit: Ruthie Oliver)
Twitter is an adult female. Her name was chosen by Mrs. Wagner’s 4th grade class. (photo credit: Ruthie Oliver)
Birdy Sanders is an adult male. His name was chosen by Mr. Tan’s 5th grade class. (photo credit: Ruthie Oliver)
Tuesday the sun finally broke through the clouds! The warm lawn must have looked like a great place to stop for lunch because we ended up finding our final four space robins out there.
Trooper is an adult male. His name was chosen by Mrs. Caunitz and Mrs. Barsanti’s 4th grade class. (Photo credit: Nicole Krikun)
Flappy is an adult female. Her name was chosen by Ms. Murphy and Mrs. Nadler’s 4th grade class. (Photo credit: Nicole Krikun)
Hippy is an adult female. Her name was chosen by Ms. O’brien’s 5th grade class. (Photo credit: Nicole Krikun)
Journey is an adult female. Her name was chosen by Mrs. Sutton’s 4th grade class. (Photo credit: Brian Weeks)
And… our final space robin is Sky!
Sky is an adult female. Her name was chosen by Mrs. McFadden and Mrs. Viola’s 4th grade class. (Photo credit: Brian Weeks)
We’ve certainly made a lot of new robin friends on this trip, but robins aren’t the only species migrating through the area. Some of our favorites are a Sharp-shinned Hawk (check out those red eyes!), Fox Sparrow, and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker! Sharp-shinned Hawks don’t just look fierce, they are real predators. They eat lots of smaller birds, including robins – eek! You can learn more about them here: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Sharp-shinned_Hawk/id, https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Fox_Sparrow/id.
We now have 17 space robins flying for us!
Thanks for all your help along the way!
P.S. Chirpie has made a new friend up here at the Boreal Centre. Hope you’ve enjoyed reading the blog as much as they have! (Photo credit: Brian Weeks)
